Captured US Soldiers in Iraq Are From Ft. Drum

The search continues in Iraq for 3 missing US soldiers despite warnings from Al Qaeda.

Private First Class Daniel Weston Courneya (19) of Vermontville, Michigan (left) and Sergeant First Class James David Connell, Jr. (40) from Lake City, Kentucky were two of the four American soldiers killed in an attack about 20 miles south of Baghdad on Saturday. An Iraqi translator was also killed in the attack where 3 US soldiers went missing.

UPDATE: The third soldier killed on Saturday has been identified. James Murphy’s rank has not yet been identified. The Post Chronicle is reporting that, “The victims’ bodies were so badly burned in the attack that the 4th soldier has not yet been identified.”

The US soldiers that went missing on the weekend near Mahmoudiya, Iraq are from the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Ft. Drum, in upstate New York.
CBS reported:

U.S. troops have questioned hundreds of people and detained 11 in the search for three American soldiers feared captured by al Qaeda during a weekend ambush in an insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

“We have conducted more than 450 tactical interviews and detained 11 individuals” as of Monday night, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said without elaborating.

“We are working with the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police in searching for our missing soldiers. We’re also communicating with the local population for information, for support and the local population continues to be helpful in providing tips,” Garver said.

CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman reports all the soldiers involved in the ambush were from Fort Drum, in upstate New York, according to military sources. The families have been notified of the deaths and the “unknown” status of the missing troops…

…If all three soldiers now missing are taken hostage alive, it would be the biggest single abduction of U.S. soldiers in Iraq since March 23, 2003, when Pvt. Jessica Lynch and six others were captured in an ambush near Nasiriyah in which 11 Americans were killed.

Michelle Malkin has new details on the hunt for the missing soldiers.

Previously:
5 US Soldiers Killed… 3 Missing in Mahmoudiya
Al Qaeda Claims It Is Holding Missing US “Crusader” Soldiers!!
Al Qaeda Says It Will Align Itself With Democrats
Al Qaeda Warns US to Stop Searching For Missing Soldiers

Photo of author
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!